F24 Alpha release announcement

Fedora 24 Alpha Release Announcement

The Fedora 24 Alpha is here, *right on schedule for our planned June final release.* Download the prerelease from our Get Fedora site:

• Get Fedora 24 Alpha Workstation
• Get Fedora 24 Alpha Server
• Get Fedora 24 Alpha Cloud
• Get Fedora 24 Alpha Spins
• Get Fedora 24 Alpha Labs

.

What is the Alpha release?

The Alpha release contains all the exciting features of Fedora 24's editions in a form that anyone can help test. This testing, guided by the Fedora QA team, helps us target and identify bugs. When these bugs are fixed, we make a Beta release available. A Beta release is code-complete and bears a very strong resemblance to the third and final release. The final release of Fedora 24 is expected in October.

We need your help to make Fedora 24 the best release yet, so please take some time to download and try out the Alpha and make sure the things that are important to you are working. If you find a bug, please report it – every bug you uncover is a chance to improve the experience for millions of Fedora users worldwide..

Together, we can make Fedora rock-solid. We have a culture of coordinating new features and pushing fixes upstream as much as feasible, and your feedback will help improve not only Fedora but Linux and free software on the whole.

Fedora-Wide Changes

Workstation

• There have been many changes to theming in GTK+ 3, where a stable API has not been declared. As a result, applications that use custom CSS theming, for example, may show issues with their appearance. This may include default applications that come with Fedora 24 Alpha Workstation. Users are asked to try out their favorite GTK+ 3 based applications and report bugs upstream so they might be addressed in time for the final release.

Other Notable Changes in the Alpha

Naturally, GNOME is getting an upgrade, with Fedora 24 containing a preview of the upcoming GNOME 3.20 pre-release, which is easier to use than ever... There are also many enhancements on the way, such as improvements to Wayland toward making it the default graphical server in a future release; support for ambient backlight drivers for a more responsive display on laptops; and changes to the Software application so it can update system firmware, and be smarter about metered Internet connections.

Spins

Fedora "spins" are alternative desktops or package sets for Fedora that provide a different experience than the standard Fedora Workstation edition. For instance, the Fedora KDE and Fedora Xfce spins provide popular alternatives to GNOME for Fedora users who enjoy the KDE, Xfce, or Cinnamon experience..

Issues and Details

This is an Alpha release. As such, we expect that you may encounter bugs or missing features. To report issues encountered during testing, contact the Fedora QA team via the test mailing list or in #fedora-qa on freenode.

As testing progresses, common issues are tracked on the Common F24 Bugs page.

For tips on reporting a bug effectively, read "how to file a bug report."

Release Schedule

The full release schedule is available on the Fedora wiki. The current schedule calls for a beta release towards the end of September, and the final release scheduled towards the end of October..

These dates are subject to change, pending any major bugs or issues found during the development process. ~